Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Omar Ahmed Khadr (in Arabic عمر أحمد خضر) (born September 19, 1986) is the fifth child in the Canadian Khadr family. He was captured by American forces at the age of 15 Find more introductory material and related coverage through Jury Pool selection below Friday Update.

UPDATES Thursday and Friday Reports

Early Photo of Omar Khadr from internet cache

Friday from FDL FireDogLake dot com here Khadr Trial Suspended for at Least 30 DaysThings are not going well in our Kangaroo Court. After quickly determining a fake sentence for Osama bin Laden’s cook, Ibrahim al Qosi, matters turned to trying Omar Khadr for an alleged murder that normally wouldn’t be a crime that he allegedly committed as a teenager using evidence gotten through rape threats. So they picked a jury (but not...guy who wanted Gitmo closed and not sold on admitting evidence received under torture or threat of same) and proceeded to the witnesses.

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Jackson was in the middle of highlighting the many inconsistencies of prosecution witness testimony when he collapsed in the court room. Daphne Eviatar: "On Thursday afternoon I watched Omar Khadr’s sole defense lawyer, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, collapse in the Guantanamo Bay courtroom in the middle of conducting a cross-examination of a key government witness. He was taken away on a stretcher by ambulance, hooked up to an I.V...collapse was related to complications from gall bladder surgery Jackson had about six weeks ago...trial has been suspended for at least 30 days. So the showcase war crime trial for allegations that most don’t consider to be a war crime will have to wait (and they may have to start all over again with jury selection)."

Thursday: Amnesty International has condemned the US government’s decision to go ahead with the military… here AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE AI Index: PRE 01/277/201012 August 2010Omar Khadr Guantánamo military trial condemned - Amnesty International has condemned the US government’s decision to go ahead with the military commission trial of Omar Khadr at the Guantánamo Bay detention centre, describing the move as another violation of human rights by the USA in the name of countering terrorism.

Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was taken into US custody as a 15-year-old in 2002 in Afghanistan, following a fire fight with US forces. He is facing five "war crime" charges, including a murder charge for allegedly throwing a grenade that fatally wounded a US soldier. The trial is due to begin today.“The USA has turned a deaf ear to the repeated appeals of the international community, including senior UN officials, not to set this dangerous precedent of an unfair trial of an individual accused of alleged ‘war crimes’ committed when he was a child”, said Rob Freer, USA researcher at Amnesty International.“After eight years of ignoring its human rights obligations, the USA is now set to try Omar Khadr under procedures that fail to meet international fair trial standards”, Rob Freer continued. “History will not judge its actions kindly”.

Omar Khadr Project: Advocating justice for ...the young Canadian citizen in Guantanamo Bay. Omar Khadr’s treatment is against the rule of law, human rights, and the rights of children. here

Wednesday August 11th Glenn Greenwald agreed with Maher Arar that Khadr should not be tried at Gitmo here

Again, Maher Arar's column had plenty of knowledgeable folk commenting yet looks like there's no more for Thursday and Friday? here

Worth watching to see various sources and highlights on Kadr and for surrounding issues/cases Cage Prisoners here

Also from 2007 yet the always sharp Professor of Law (former Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Dr. Marjorie Cohn on Kadr - an article referred to in CounterPunch.org as "The Prison is the War Crime" here Cohn was co-writer for a new book documenting torture and related abuse (get your college or library to order here==================Posted here earlier:

JUST IN (Tuesday) Child soldier who grew up in Camp Delta with photo of Omar Khadr when attacked by US military in 2002 here

Omar Khadr's Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney, talks to reporters at Guantanamo Bay, Monday Aug. 9, 2010. Edney expressed outrage that the judge ruled Khadr's confessions, which the defence says were the product of torture, can be admitted at his trial (from August 9, 2010) Edney is not allowed to represent Khadr in an American court AP Photo

First full war crimes trial of the Obama administration.

Blogger's NOTE: There are no comments needed to raise great suspicions concerning the humane rights and accurate facts being applied to this case as they are easy to find in this straight report and in many other such reports leading up to this day.

Yet I want to bring attention to this one article which simply in reporting raises a number of grave concerns and especially the the "numbing down" of even the most reasonable sense of humanity so lacking in the US "War on Terror"...

BY CAROL ROSENBERGcrosenberg@MiamiHerald.com

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- Canadian terror suspect Omar Khadr came to court Tuesday in a business suit and tie, stood and said ``hello'' to a jury pool of American military officers brought to this base from around the world to sit in judgment at his war crimes tribunal.

Lawyers and the judge spent the morning questioning the pool of 15 officers on their suitability to sit on the first full war crimes trial of the Obama administration.

Only five need to be chosen to hear the case.

Khadr, 23, was captured in Afghanistan at age 15. He allegedly threw a grenade in a July 2002 firefight with U.S. Special Forces that killed Sgt 1st Class Christopher Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M. His also is accused of building and planting land mines in a bid to resist the American invasion in reprisal for the 9/11 attacks.

He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors chose not to make it a death penalty eligible trial in consideration of his age, but seek life imprisonment.

He has already spent a third of his life in U.S. military custody.

Questioning of potential jurors ranged from their television viewing habits -- all but three said they watch ``CSI''-type shows -- to whether they had undergone SERE training, designed to simulate torture and test an American soldier's ability to resist or evade enemy interrogation.

``It hurt,'' said an unidentified male officer, who was one of four in the pool that had been so trained. ``They put me in some situations I thought I never could come out of on the other side. It gave me confidence that I could perform to my abilities.''

At issue was which of the U.S. officers' could impartially consider whether Guantánamo's youngest and last Western captive would be found guilty of killing a brother American soldier.

Judge Patrick Parrish cautioned the members that, like all other U.S. court systems, a military commissions defendant comes to court with a presumption of innocence.

``He is innocent,'' pool member No. 2 said in reply to a question from Pentagon-appointed defense lawyer Army Lt. Col. Jon Jackson. ``The government has to prove him guilty. . . . We have to do this right.''

Tuesday, Khadr was fully engaged, watching the pool submit to questioning by both Jackson and the lead case prosecutor, former Marine Maj. Jeffrey Groharing, now a Justice Department lawyer.

His gray suit looked off the rack. The trousers didn't reach his ankles. His tie appeared rose colored.

A day earlier, the teen, who grew into manhood in U.S. custody, appeared in court in the white uniform of a cooperative prison camp captive. He spent the morning studying a World Cup soccer magazine.

Jury selection was expected to take up much of the day, first with a group inquiry then later with follow-up questions of the officers one by one to determine which would hear the case that could go on for several weeks.

As officers, all have college educations. Most panel members said they had read books or seen films about Osama Bin Laden or the Arab-Israeli crisis. All said they believed the United States treats Guantánamo detainees humanely. Three said they had opinions on President Barack Obama's plan to ``close Guantánamo,'' but did not express them.

Only one would-be juror claimed working knowledge of Arabic and two said they knew nothing about Islam.

Once a jury is picked, both sides will deliver their arguments, probably Wednesday.The Miami Herald

Admission of threat of rape to extract infohttp://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/11/gitmo-rape/

Maher Arar's Op Ed on Khadr at Huff Posthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/maher-arar/why-is-canadian-child-sol_b_677748.html (I have commented to this in light of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's "Civilian" trial which was anything but civil) on Huff Post under that item by Arar which I expect will be approved soon)

House Resolution 1588 calls for sustained pressure and engagement from the United States and the international community in support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and upcoming referenda. The resolution notes the irregularities that marred Sudan's national elections in April, the numerous provisions of the CPA that have not been properly implemented, the widespread human rights violations that occurred during the elections period and have continued throughout Sudan, and the ongoing conflict in Darfur. The time to act is now.

Ask your Representative to stand up for peace in Sudan by co-sponsoring House Resolution 1588. You can do so by accessing the Save Darfur Website using the link below.